Hey Guys,
I have 3 Years Experience in Java and have made several games and applications but have no formal qualification so was wondering if there was any Java qualification online that you would recommend as I it will help me applying for my work experience,
Thanks in Advance, Max 
If you have portfolio of your work, that’s a good start. I don’t know what you mean by “Java qualification online” but there is no sort of certificate similar to the A+ or anything like that. I’d suggest going on oDesk or Elance and try doing some work for other people.
I’m going to answer your question without discussing the relative merits of Certifications vs “real world experience.”
Oracle has a number of Java certificates, starting with “Oracle Certified Associate, Java SE 7
Programmer”. More info:
http://docs.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/extra/certification/index.html
I found a site for practice tests, and am pleased with what I purchased there: http://enthuware.com.
EDIT: Forgot to mention: are you familiar with JavaRanch, and it’s “Cattle Drive” course? I don’t know that the “Moose Badges” that are earned are that much help, but a couple of the recruiters I’ve talked to know of this site and course-of-study, and seem to have some respect for it. The main feature is that the emphasis is on code-review and stylistic nit-picking. If you have never coded on a team or never have had your code subject to review, or if you’d like some feedback on best practices, this course might be for you. It is $100 and self-paced, starts very easy and progresses to the use of databases via JSP/Servlets (most advanced “Moose Badge”).
Funny, I just read a post yesterday from a fellow, young kid coming up who has earned three different Oracle Certifications and was asking for advice on how to land the “first job” when all the job descriptions are asking for 5 yrs experience.
Yeah that’s pretty bad, but still understandable since experience really counts towards you being a productive and skilled developer; far more than certification. There aren’t enough junior positions by far nowadays in my opinion, nobody really has the time or budget to train someone on the job who is probably going to hop to another employer the moment his/her training is complete.
I was really lucky myself, I got a call from a classmate one day if I wanted a position as a Java developer while farking around in a dead-end PHP job with no real chance of getting a contract. His word got me in and I was lucky enough to have an excellent manager/mentor who taught me the ropes of the development world (beyond programming) in that strict fatherly way that we all hate when growing up and respect when grown up. Ever since I tend to take on that role myself whenever a junior enters the company; its just the right thing to do.
How was entering the field so young? I’m still relatively young(ok I’m young, 16) and I’ve always wanted a summer job as a programmer. I just worried about how hard it would be to get a job, and then if the other programmers even usually care about the new young programmer. I just don’t to get a job and have all the other people just blow me off because I don’t have a degree. Of course, I could just be over thinking it.
I’m 17 now and still I’m a child according to our law. (We need at least 18 years) to get jobs here. It’s a crime to work before that age. And to get a job as a programmer, one should have atleast a B.Tech degree by completing which, we normally attain 22 years.
In the U.S. I believe the minimum age for working is 15? I know a few people who are working at like 14 though, which is illegal but hey if you need money… I realize I’m not that old but I am legally allowed to work.
Perhaps my story will give you some insights. I don’t know of course if it is applicable to your country’s job market so please consider differences.
So first of all I’m from germany and I guess the main difference between us and the US is that degrees matter a lot more. I’m just about to finish my computer science master and have already a good job lined up.
I was very interested and engaged into programming, gaming … before going to university, in the same way as you all I think.
I probably could have started doing some programming work somewhere after high school, but doing this would have put me in a dead end low level job for the rest of my life. In my college years I met a lot of people wanting to get a degree after realizing that they won’t get anywhere without.
You will learn so many things and improve extremely in the years studying. The most important part about university is that you have time, time to learn new interesting stuff on your own, experiment with technologies and so on. When you are working 40 hours a week or more you won’t have this time, you will be forced to you use outdated technologies and methods.
And as a bonus you can do little internships(like 10 hours a week) on the side which you use to show your experience later in your CV.
You’ll be hard pressed to get any sort of development job without a degree or at least some experience to show that you know what you are doing. It’s rare that anyone will hire you unless you know how to program already. That’s why most positions require some experience. It’s very hard to train someone to program. Not something that can happen in a couple weeks. And I mean legit programming. You may be expected to pick up a language you’ve never used. For my job, I first did web development, though I had never touched PHP or Javascript. It took me about 2 weeks to become proficient. I think that’s a good test that you are ready for real world programming. Understanding the logic behind it is more important than the languages you know.
And I don’t believe there is any such thing as a “dead-end” job as a couple of you mentioned. If you are doing development work, you are gaining extremely useful experience. No matter what you are getting paid (if at all) or if the job itself won’t “take you anywhere”. If you get an opportunity to do actual dev work, you should take it. That’s what employer’s want to see. Experience is more valuable than a degree. Employers want to know that you have done things, rather than know that you are “ready” to do things. Not to say that a degree doesn’t help.
What I did was start at a software company as a technician. I installed our software, rather than build it. Later on, they needed a web developer, so I took it up. I worked hard at it and they noticed (the whole PHP/Javscript thing), so within just a couple months they moved me to the main development team. Now, I’m a full time Java developer and I haven’t even finished my Bachelor’s Degree. I’ve got my foot in the door, and now I’m made in the shade. This won’t be where I stay the rest of my life. But, by the time I’m 24 I’ll already have over 2 years real world experience, which puts me far ahead of others in my age group that will apply for the same jobs I do.
When I say work experience, I don’t mean working, at my school (UK) we all go and work at a company for 2 weeks to learn about the world of work, I am only 15
Thanks for all your advice!